"I managed to clear my son's fees for the entire term which made him have comfortably stay in school without any fear of being sent away from school due to delays in fees payments. Having planted sugarcane is another difference in my life that I shouldn't have gained without GiveDirectly's transfers. This is because in my area, planting sugarcane is very marketable ,therefore, I believe from the harvest I will get early next year and sell in the nearby factory. These profits will assist me in paying school fees for my children and also provide for my family's needs without any struggles"

"Financial constraints have been the biggest hardship in my life. This is because, at the age of 79 years, I am still having the responsibility of taking care of my grandchild whose father is a deceased while the mother was remarried. Imagine burning charcoal and taking them to the nearest town looking for potential buyers and fail to get one! Basic needs provision like beddings, food, nice shelter, and school fees has been always a challenge. To some extent, I have wished to get support from my son but this is a mere dream since he is just a village boy."

"Subsistence farming is not sufficient as it only provides food. This means I need an extra source of income to provide school fees, medical and clothes for my children. To supplement this, I have been burning charcoal but I stopped due to respiratory diseases. This has affected my financial status and I am struggling to take care of my family. The major issue is school fees which has withhold the results of my two children who completed school with fee arrears. It hurts me so much because my daughter missed the Kenya Police recruitment because she doesn't have her result slip. My 3 children who are currently in secondary school spent 2 weeks at home because of 5000 shillings. In this regard, I can say financial instability is my biggest hardship."

"Receiving this money will enable me to solve two major stumbling blocks in my life. I will be able to seek proper medication for my daughter who has been suffering from uncontrolled bleeding during her menses for 3 years now. I will also spend roughly ksh.50,000 to help me reduce on the accumulated fee arrears for 8 of my children which is totalling to ksh. 147,000 as follows : ( ksh.50,000 for the one in college, ksh.89,000 for 2 in secondary school and ksh.8000 for 5 in primary school. This debts have been accumulating and much as I strive to do different jobs like burning charcoal, extracting aloe vera juice and even selling the little harvest from farming, balancing between buying food,seeking for treatment and paying school fees has been an impossible mission to accomplish because back home, I have additional 4 dependants bringing the total number of people looking up to me for upkeep to 12 family members. Since I know that this money is not enough to help me achieve all this, I plan to broaden my source of income flow by investing in livestock trade and general shop business. Over time, I am sure that my income will be consistent thus reducing the heavy burden of finances that I am currently facing."

"The biggest difference in my daily life since Give Directly came into my life is that I am nowadays happy and at peace. I was able to pay for my whole year's school fees. I used to struggle to pay school fees because I wholly depended on proceeds from the sale of milk. I was almost giving up and I thought I would never finish school until Give Directly came into my life. I now have hope of living a better life because once I finish school I know I will have a better future."

"We have been struggling to pay school fees for our two children in secondary school and one in college.Aside from those,there are another two who completed secondary school studies and did well but could not proceed to college because we could not afford to sustain all of them in school at the same time.Receiving this money will enable me pay a part of their fees as well as invest in poultry farming which will in turn provide an income to meet all the fees costs as they proceed with their studies."

"Last year and part of this year,I did not have any maize harvest.This was mainly attributed to a certain crop disease coupled with poor rainfall.Maize farming is what my family mainly depends on both for consumption and sale to raise money for school fees.This time was therefore the most difficult time for us because aside from looking for money to buy food,we also had to try to raise school fees for my child in secondary school.Since my spouse and I are not in any form of employment,we had to seek casual jobs and used the little we earned to meet all these needs; which was hardly enough.Our second harvest this year was however far much better.This is the biggest hardship I have faced."

"Whereas my husband owns and operates a hardware store, I also run a shopkeeping business. But I wish i would say that we are proud business people. Paying school fees for our four children demands so much resources this destabilizing our businesses. Our first born is in college, second and third in secondary school and last born joining high school come January next year. There are so much money required for their education than our businesses can churn out. It is hard to make savings when the profits we make all go to school fees."

"The biggest hardship i have faced in life is unreliable source of income. I work as a mechanic, a job that is never predictable due to the remoteness of this place. Paying school fees for my three children one in college, another one in secondary school and one in primary school has been a struggle to me now that i am the breadwinner of my family. "

"I have been slowly building my house but at some point it stalled because of lack of money.My priority has been paying school fees for my children.I am now happy that Give Directly has come to my rescue and I will be able to complete the finishing bit of the house.This will cost me Ksh 15,000(150 USD).I will also construct a kitchen to replace the old grass thatched one that I have.This will cost me another Ksh 15,000.The second transfer will come in time when school will be reopening in January. This will help me in paying school fees which has been my biggest worry.For the first term of the year I am required to pay Ksh 26,000 for one child in a boarding secondary school and Ksh 6,000 for another in day secondary school.What remains of the transfers will help me invest more in poultry and crop farming which has been helping me a lot in meeting the basic needs."